A Little Bif of Activism

Shame on you Travis.

Gotta Watch These Guys

Okay, I'm blogging less these days because I'm trying to spend more time being an ACTIVIST again. I mean, it's fun to live here in cyberspace where I can vent on my blog, debate on discussion boards, and play with my website, but the real difference is made when you get out into the real world and ADVOCATE.

So, I'm proud of myself. I actually left cyberworld and wrote a letter to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Okay, they received over 600 letters this week and mine somehow didn't make it, but I no less felt good writing it.

Okay, I already do SOME work in the real world: I do a lot of administrative volunteer work for the Georgia Sierra Club. I no longer have the heart to work on local issues like I used to, because I feel that such work only accommodates more growth. So, for a while I was working on global population, then I switched to sustainability, and lately I'm now focusing on new ways of thinking. Or, to use a term from a friend, I want to reengineer memes*.

Anyway, back to the letter. See, the road building lobby in Georgia has a front group called Georgians for Better Transportation. Just the name of this organization makes my skin crawl because they don't care at all about better transportation. They only support alternative transportation just enough to camouflage their real intent — which I call "window dressing."

Regretfully, Country music star Travis Tritt was the headliner at their big event Thursday at the Fox Theatre, where they threw a big party for state politicians and local highway officials. Oh, and who really finances Georgians for Better Transportation? Surprise - the big grading companies. You know, the asphalt kings. God bless 'em. The following is my letter:

Dear Editor,

I was disappointed to see that Travis Tritt has sold out to the road-building lobbyists by performing for their party at the Fox. I happen to live near Mr. Tritt’s house, and I doubt he would like a five-lane road paved in front of his residence.

What’s particularly troubling is the name of this asphalt-pouring group: Georgians for Better Transportation. This is a bit cynical, since road building is the only form of “better transportation” that this group honestly advocates. The powerful asphalt lobbyists may bring personal enrichment to themselves, but for Georgians they only offer eternal road congestion and reduced air quality.

The least they can do is have a more sincere name, like “Contractors for More Roads.”

Sincerely,

Yellow Canary

*Meme: A cultural unit (an idea or value or pattern of behavior) that is passed from one generation to another by non-genetic means (as by imitation); "memes are the cultural counterpart of genes"

P.S. I just read that Baby 300 Million will be born in the U.S. in October. Hurray, let's have a party.